I notice that Sean is mulling a rewrite of Slay. As a long time player of the game (since 1998) I would like to propose one small change to the program.

My suggestion is that the map editing feature be enhanced to include placement of starting positions, such that the number of players and their exact territories at start could be specified.

This would not only enable the creation of special trick and challenge maps, it could also possibly lead to an upsurge in online play. As things stand now, online games tend to be "over" quite quickly. as the player with the most advantageous starting position easily takes the lead. This is not much fun. Properly designed multiplayer maps, with starting territories carefully balanced to account for turn order and of small size to enable swift games even for six players, would make online play enormously attractive and possibly create sales.